New research links a rise in advanced breast cancer to Covid-19

The correlation is alarming 

According to an important Australian study, The pandemic still impacts every facet of our healthcare system. Here’s what the latest data says about advanced breast cancer.

The study’s findings  – indicating a rise in breast cancer diagnoses in women – are not the first of their kind to reflect this worrying trend. As recent research has found, several cancers in young Aussies (particularly women) are becoming more common. 

But as experts explain, an increase in cancer diagnoses is not necessarily a reflection of our dwindling collective health. Instead, the trend is influenced by several factors such as improved screening and diagnosis procedures and earlier detection. 

With screening frequency and availability playing a significant role in when and how patients are diagnosed with cancer, it’s only logical that an immense disruption to such procedures would also impact the numbers. Enter Covid-19. 

The ongoing healthcare impact of Covid-19 

There’s no denying the impact of the pandemic – which first hit Aussie shores in 2020 – on our healthcare system as a whole. 

Widespread lockdowns, supply shortages and isolation measures made the constant influx of Covid-19 patients difficult to manage, as cases continued to climb exponentially beyond our hospitals’ capacities. 

With resources and medical personnel redirected towards managing the pandemic, almost every area of healthcare experienced disruptions and delays. One area significantly impacted by the pandemic was diagnostic screening, according to hospital data from July 2019 to June 2022. 

Comparing data across pre-pandemic, pandemic and post-pandemic groups, researchers have linked a rise in post-covid advanced breast cancer diagnoses to the widespread suspension of screening resources. 

Experts are concerned about the rising diagnosis rates. Image: iStock

The study, published in the Royal Australian College of Surgeons’ ANZ Journal of Surgery, documents a significant rise in both symptomatic breast cancer (14.7 per cent) and a 2.5 per cent increase in advanced breast cancer (stage 3 and 4) from 2019 to 2022.  

Looking more closely at specific tumours, notable increases in node-positivity were found to have occurred in three aggressive tumours; high Ki-67 (5.4 per cent), Grade 3 (14.8 per cent) and Estrogen Receptor negative (33.4 per cent).

Given the fast-spreading and aggressive nature of these three tumours, experts are concerned about the rising diagnosis rates. 

“What is most concerning is the extremely high increases in node-positivity in three different types of tumours that are known to be biologically more aggressive. Cancers with these tumour markers often have poor prognoses as they’re known to spread quickly,” says Dr Michael Hughes, a surgical oncologist at Sydney Adventist Hospital and Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Women in the primary age group who are overdue for their breast screen should get it done ASAP. Image: Pexels

“Having such an alarming increase in the likelihood of cancer spreading to a patient’s lymph nodes, coupled with delayed diagnosis as a result of suspended breast cancer screening and other related health services has the potential to be lethal.”

Though free breast cancer screening is usually available for women aged 50 to 74 under the  BreastScreen Australia program, resources were suspended twice for three months in New South Wales throughout the pandemic. 

Now, as we continue to recover and support our health surfaces in the wake of the pandemic, with screening services back up and running as normal, experts are urging women to be proactive with their health. 

“My biggest piece of advice to women in this age group who are overdue for their breast screen is to get it done,” Dr Hughes says. 

Originally published as New research links a rise in advanced breast cancer to Covid-19